SÃO PAULO – Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workplace equality, held its second annual Out & Equal LGBT Brazil Forum on Tuesday in São Paulo. The event convened 300 attendees from more than 125 Brazilian and multinational companies at the Renaissance Hotel to discuss strategies for advancing LGBT workplace inclusion in Brazil, and to encourage networking for LGBT and ally professionals from across diverse industries. Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Brazilian judge and attorney Dra. Maria Berenice Dias, a national expert on LGBT and family law, delivered keynote remarks at the event.
The day was preceded by a breakfast event that gathered 50 senior Brazilian executives – including 16 CEOs – from more than 25 companies to discuss the importance of senior executive support for advancing corporate LGBT initiatives. Other event programming for the day included workshops and panels covering a range of topics on LGBT workplace inclusion, including recruitment and retention of LGBT employees, best practices in LGBT communications and marketing, and training programs for Ally employees.
“We are thrilled with the strong response and the tremendous growth we’ve seen in the Out & Equal Brazil Forum in just one year,” said Steve Roth, Senior Director of Global Initiatives at Out & Equal. “From our first event last year we’ve more than doubled in size and dramatically increased senior executive participation. For us, that’s a clear sign of the strong and growing commitment to advancing LGBT workplace inclusion here in Brazil.”
This year’s event also included the presentation of the first-ever Out & Equal Brazil Excellence Awards, created to recognize Brazilian leaders in advancing LGBT workplace equality for their achievements and contributions to the community. Esabela Cruz of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ricardo Sales of the University of São Paulo and João Lucas Andrade Torres of Dow Chemical Company were all awarded the Out & Equal Brazil Excellence Award for their outstanding contributions to advancing LGBT workplace inclusion in Brazil.
The 2017 Out & Equal Brazil Forum was produced by Out & Equal in conjunction with presenting sponsor, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and additional event sponsors Dell, Sodexo, Itaú Unibanco, Mattos Filho, Monsanto and GE.
“It was a pleasure to serve as Presenting Sponsor of the Out & Equal Brazil Forum for the second consecutive year and to feature our Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, at this year’s Forum” said José Berenguer, CEO of J.P. Morgan Brazil. “Our support of this event and Jamie’s presence there reflect our deep, global commitment to advancing LGBT workplace equality. We’re very proud of our partnership with Out & Equal.”
